Dance, Baby, Dance

So, you chose to strike this pose before entering ballet for the first time.

I simply love the way you are standing in this picture...

Mika, you are an absolute joy to all. You are spunky, energetic, feminine, nurturing, and extremely empathetic. I have to be careful about letting  you see others when they are mad and sad because your heart hurts for them and you will often cry for them. You sing and you dance ALL this time and right now you do some seriously "legit"moves. I am so excited for your ballet/tap/gymnastic endeavor. You thoroughly enjoyed gymnastics and told me ballet was your favorite...We shall see, we shall see!

These last two pictures, I thought, were adorable...Although a little blurry, you can still make out that beautiful pony-tailed girl.  I have seen many a verse in my Bible about dancing or leaping with joy, therefore, I will try and help make it an act of worship for Mika as she gets older!  There are many songs that refer to dancing that I love. One is called The Untitled Hymn: 
O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live
                                                                                              And another...I Can Only Imagine:
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I
fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

I LOVE YOU, Mika!! You make my heart sing and dance;)

Even in China, Anniversary #7

So, even from China you have managed to sweep me off my feet. 

I have been fully prepared to celebrate our seventh anniversary upon your return home on July 28th.  But, knowing how this day would be hard for me without you here to touch, you had a few tricks up your sleeve to ease the lonliness....

                   First: The Hair!                                    



Thursday while visiting with you online, Shelly text me and told me to come see her at 2:00. Somehow, you managed to arrange for me to get highlights and a cut. I sincerely appreciated this and absolutely love how it turned out. This was so thrilling especially because you said, "Get whatever you want done!" Awesome, I chose blonde.



I was so pumped about my hair, I felt so "preettyyy" It took Mady and Mika a minute to really like it, Mady has always had a problem with change and said, "Mom, will you just leave your hair one way, please?" Then she and Mika couldn't stop touching it...This was pretty funny and if someone had been peeking in the window, they would have thought, "What is with those weird kids..." Anywho, final concensus: EVERYONE loves it, thank you.

Next: Twirl



As if the hair wasn't enough...Friday morning I had awoken to a stupid crappy dream. I told you about it and instead of holding off until the actual anniversary, you decided to give me this gift early. You text me to go out to your truck and look under the  driver seat. There I found Twirl, my favorite perfume ever!!  You always find ways to smooth over my rough edges and I thank you for this.



I consider the fact that as I was having a bad dream, you were kiniving a way to make me feel special and loved, this goes to show one little attempt the devil made to try and steal the joy you had been planning for me.

The Perfect Finish: Seven Roses



Dad had insisted I come down for dinner on our actual anniversary. He said this was just so I wouldn't be alone on our special day. However, when I got to their house, there was a surprise on the table. 7 Roses representing our 7 years together...




Aren't they just beautiful? I feel so spoiled. You really know how to take the bittersweet out of the day. I could do nothing but smile.
The card read: I love you always.

You want to know what I love most about my gifts? I love the fact that you knew what I wanted because you listen to me. In the midst of my rambling on and on all the time, and the Lord knows I never shut up, YOU were listening. When I said I was ready for highlights in passing one day, you took a mental note. When I came home from getting your Father's Day cologne and couldn't stop sniffing the sample of Twirl and said how much I like it, you were listening. To any woman in the world, just knowing their man is listening is a gift all on its own.......I'd like to find words to say, that could truly represent my love for you. I mean, as I look back over the full 7 years we've been married, I can only recall that each year we have gotten stronger and become better friends as time passes. I thank God for this correlation of  as time< so does  love/friendship<  Like I told you in that text, July 24th, 2004 was a great bass fishing day for you, but your greatest catch of all was ME and vice versa. There is one aspect of your life that is always constant, among all the hardships and heartbreaks this one thing won't change, since 1999 Stacy Cossey has been somewhere in the mix of your life.  I always will be, so long as you will have me.  I want to journey this life hand in hand with you until we accomplish our dreams and are old and gray on the front porch swing watching the great grandbabies play in the yard.  I love you and will not just tell you this, you will know it by my actions.  I am so excited about this upcoming year and what the Lord has in story. 2010-2011 has been full of growth and blessing and we are learning to trust our Awesome God even more!

July 24th, 2004: The day I married my best friend